I'm from southern Ohio, in the United States. I spent a good chunk of last year living in Dunkirk, France, working as an English Language Assistant, but now I'm temporarily back home in the US. I'm working on applying to a PhD program at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, so fingers crossed that I make it into the program.
I have two cats-- Katniss and Sylvie-- who I brought to France (and back) with me! I love reading, watching TV, watching movies, and of course traveling. When I travel I love visiting historical sites and museums. Van Gogh is my favorite artist, and I almost cried when I got to see "Starry Night Over the Rhône" at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris (I also went a little crazy in the gift shop).
I'm kind of nerdy. I really love the field that I'm in, even though it can be very difficult to find a job in linguistics without being fluent in another language or having a PhD. That's one of the reasons I went to France-- to practice my French-- but I used it surprisingly little there. I like reading and writing, and I'm trying to build my own language (called a conlang), preferably to include in a book I'd like to write. Though I don't play them often, I like video games, especially Nintendo games like Super Smash Bros.
My latest obsessions have been with learning languages with Duolingo and learning HTML/CSS (and eventually harder stuff like Javascript and Python), partly on my own and partly through W3School and Codecademy. My favorite podcast is a linguistics podcast called Talk the Talk, based in Perth, Australia.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love traveling, and though I'm currently taking a hiatus from travel and can't even host at the moment, I fully intend on contributing to the community again in the future (especially if I manage to move to Edinburgh!). I'd love to host and be hosted again, as I have really enjoyed getting to know the people I've interacted with on Couchsurfing already.

Interests

• pets
• cats
• writing
• reading
• music
• history
• languages
• language exchange
• historic sites
• food
• linguistics
• watching movies
• dutch
• exploring
• france
• museums
• french
• netflix
• ireland
• art museums
• belgium
• scotland
• van gogh
• netherlands
• irish
• conlanging
• pokemon go
• history and culture
• scottish gaelic

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: I love classic rock, like Queen, Styx, Scorpions, and Foreigner. I also like some new music, like Panic! At the Disco and FallOutBoy. I also listen to a lot of Broadway music, especially Hamilton, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and RENT.
Movies: Anything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (but my favorites are probably Deadpool and Dr. Strange), Arrival (though a little overdone, surprisingly well-informed about linguistics), most Disney movies, especially if they're Disney Pixar (kind of obsessed with Inside Out and Moana).
Books: The entire Harry Potter series. I've been reading them since I was five years old, and I still love them. Dan Brown's books, even though he uses the same basic formula for each book. The Hunger Games trilogy, and the Divergent trilogy, and (even though I'm not even close to finished with them yet) the Outlander series. I stopped working on them about halfway through the third book, because I was in grad school and it was killing me. But I really want to pick them up again. I'd also love to try out some of Ian Rankin's books.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've rappelled down the side of a castle wall in Assisi, Italy! And it was terrifying.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach English, both as a first or second language, and linguistics. I'd love to be able to learn some more French or Dutch, and about the culture and history of France and Scotland. And I'd love to share knowledge, memories, and a nice meal.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories, language, food, and memories.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, England, France, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States